


Lingering Cold

by F-117 Nighthawk (F117_Nighthawk)



Series: Pepperony Week 2K17 [5]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: (how have I not noticed that's a tag before), Extremis Pepper Potts, Extremis Tony Stark, F/M, Pepper is a bit of a badass, Pepperony Week, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Tony Stark Still Has Arc Reactor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-13
Updated: 2017-07-13
Packaged: 2018-12-01 02:25:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11476641
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/F117_Nighthawk/pseuds/F-117%20Nighthawk
Summary: Set at a supposed beginning of Infinity War, Pepper confronts Steve about Siberia.For pepperony week day five: post-CACW





	Lingering Cold

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so originally this was gonna be "how do we get from 'we're taking a break' to 'I've had it in my pocket since 2008!'" but then I started thinking about how much damage Cap could've caused Tony _especially_ with the fact that I almost always work with a Tony-still-has-the-arc AU and Extremis!Tony and Extremis!Pepper and. uh. This happened.
> 
> (This is sooo much longer than I meant it to be probably because Pep i feel would be a sorely needed voice of reason in CACW and she has all the same problems I do with the movie)

Pepper paced just off the landing pad on the Avengers Compound. Tony wasn’t here yet and the quinjet carrying several people who were technically outlaws was landing any minute now. She hadn’t seen any of them since the debacle with the Sokovia Accords. Heck, even since the Ultron fiasco if she considered it. 

Vision phased through the wall behind her. “The quinjet will be here in two minutes, Mrs. Stark.”

Pepper stopped pacing and turned to Vision. “And Tony?”

“Mr. Stark said he would be here at 1200.”

Pepper rubbed her face with her hands. “Okay. Thank you, Vision.”

The AI bowed and phased back through the wall. Pepper turned back to pacing. The last time she had seen any of the Avengers that sided with Steve had been before the party where Ultron announced his presence. The last time she and Tony had talked about any of them was directly after what the media called the ‘Avengers Civil War,’ when he told her all that had happened and broken down in her arms. Much of it she considered Steve’s fault, for refusing to listen to Tony when he tried to get Steve to listen to reason. Tony knew how to navigate the government and press, had been for years. He knew that the Accords were flawed, but he also saw why they were necessary. He knew that they could request amendments and changes to the Accords, but they couldn’t do that if they weren’t operating under them. 

And then Steve had fucking left Tony half-dead in a bunker in Siberia. 

Pepper felt the wind of the quinjet before she saw it; its stealth mode was on. Despite it being piloted by Rhodey, it was still holding six criminals at the top of the UN’s list. She stopped pacing and stood in front of where the ramp would lower, back straight as a rod and hands clasped behind her back. The wind whipped her hair around; she pushed wisps of it behind her ears. The ramp lowered as the quinjet finished its landing sequence, letting the six Rogue Avengers onto the landing pad. 

Steve stepped in front of the rest of them. “Mrs. Stark. Congratulations, by the way.”

Pepper didn’t respond to him. She glared into his eyes, hoping desperately that Extremis wasn’t responding to her emotions and making her glow. The man needed some sense slapped into him. Yes, Tony had specifically called him because of the situation currently brewing over Dubai, but that didn’t mean she had to like it. The man had left Tony to  _ die. _ He was too stubborn for his own good, for his friends good, for the entire world. All he had to do was put aside his own desires for five minutes to see that all of Tony’s points were  _ correct,  _ and all Steve’s points could easily be adapted into the accords if  _ he listened to Tony. _ And if Bucky was  _ truly _ the entire problem, then there was the  _ entire Hydra-SHIELD info dump  _ which was  _ chock _ full of evidence that would absolve Bucky.

Steve stared at her for a moment before continuing: “Uh, Stark told us there was a situation that we were needed for?”

It occurred to Pepper that she  _ could _ just slap him, then get on with this. Captain America wasn’t like some sleazy CEO she had to butter up just to get a deal with. Plus, there was no media around and SI’s stock wouldn't drop. For all she knew it might rise.

Pepper lifted her right arm from behind her back and gave Steve a vicious slap in the face.

He went reeling, hand held up to his face. “Ow! What was that for?” he cried, straightening up. Behind him, Bucky moved but was held back by Sam and Wanda.

“That was for  _ leaving Tony to die in Siberia,” _ she growled. Extremis was making her cheeks glow, time slow, and her pupils a burnt orange as it overlayed an analysis of the supersoldier on her view. She told it to shut off battle mode, now was not the time. She also told FRIDAY to not inform Tony of the past ten seconds.

“What? He was fine when I left.”

“He was  _ absolutely not fine! _ You  _ shattered the arc reactor! _ If it weren’t for FRIDAY and Extremis, he would have died before anyone even noticed he was missing!”

Steve stared at her like he had no idea what she meant. “His suit was still working.”

Extremis decided now was the perfect time to give her an overlay of exactly how badly Tony’s suit had been damaged at Siberia. 

“Left boot completely offline, circuitry fried, wires exposed, undersuit torn; right boot circuitry fried, wires exposed, hole torn completely through; left greave cracked in three, circuitry broken and sparking; right cuisse hole punched through; left gauntlet ripped apart, thruster completely offline; right gauntlet circuitry fried, thruster liable to explode if used, undersuit torn;  left pauldron crushed, shoulder missiles damaged, one exploded in the compartment; backplate crushed, back thrusters damaged, backup arc damaged, Extremis connection damaged; helmet crushed beyond repair, Extremis connection lost, all wireless connection lost; breastplate crushed, Extremis connection lost, wireless connection lost; arc reactor shattered, Starkium core lost, Extremis connection lost. I wouldn’t call a  _ shattered arc reactor _ and a damaged backup  _ working. _

“And you want a list of his injuries? The broken arm he already had from the airport, fractured again, a large gash on his right leg, two broken ribs, various contusions and cuts, a concussion, and  _ a shattered arc reactor. _

“He could have  _ died _ , Steve. He lapsed into unconsciousness shortly after you left because of what happened to the arc reactor. The only reason he survived was Extremis’s capability to reconnect wires that had broken and the fact that the second FRIDAY lost connection she called me. If you hadn’t broken the arc he could have survived that relatively unscathed and not had to spend two weeks in the hospital on the edge. If you hadn’t broken the arc I wouldn’t have had to spend ten hours running around the Tower searching for his spares because lord knows the man doesn’t keep FRIDAY or me up to date on anything.”

Behind Steve the rest of the Rogue Avengers stood in shock at her words. Only one of them seemed to understand exactly what she was saying: Wanda. She had her hands covering her mouth, eyes wide in horror. Pepper assumed she would have picked up what had happened to Tony during the Ultron fiasco. Steve’s eyes were wide too, but he still seemed confused. “Pepper, I don’t think I understand. Why would he have been unconscious because of the arc reactor?”

She stared at him. “Oh my god. You really don’t know. I thought Tony had explained it to you?” Steve shook his head. Pepper moved her head to look at the Rogue Avengers behind him. “Do any of you know what I’m talking about?” She received a chorus of nos except for Wanda, who hesitantly nodded her head.

Pepper sighed and pressed the heels of her hands into her eyes. “Oh my god, Tony, I told you your trust issues were going to come back to bite you.” She took a deep breath and started: “You all remember Tony was captured in Afghanistan for three months, right? Okay, good.” she sighed, and attempted to figure out the best way to word the next part. “When he was, captured. He got. Blown up, with a shrapnel missile. He’s never told me exactly what happened,” that was a lie, a couple months after the Mandarin attacks he’d broken down and told her everything in horrible exacting detail, “but the shrapnel damaged his heart. Long and the short of it is his heart can’t beat on its own strong enough for him to live anymore. So when you  _ shattered the arc reactor, _ he was stuck on backup power until we got to him. Problem was, his backup power was damaged so several fail safes kicked in and slowed his heart to practically coma levels so he had a chance of surviving. Lucky for you, he did.”

Pepper watched as Steve realized what he could have done and recoiled in horror. “Oh goodness. Pepper, I’m so sorry-”

“It’s not me you should apologize to,” she said, “And that’s not even all of what you should apologize for. None of that would have happened if you didn’t insist on being a  _ stubborn fool _ and had  _ listened _ to Tony. He’s had  _ decades _ of experience navigating the world of politics and public opinion. When he says it’s in your best interest to do something, he’s probably right. The Sokovia Accords were flawed, yes, but if you had read them in full and signed them you would have had the ability to suggest changes to them to fit your points, which I should point out Tony said were all good points and even included during the first discussions of the Accords. But instead you decided that none of it was salvageable and decided it was better to brand yourself a criminal than work within the system to change it for the better.

“I’ll put all that behind me for now because I am a professional, but I still think you deserve more than a slap.” Pepper crossed her arms and stared at Steve. He looked appropriately ashamed. Extremis popped up an alert that Tony was inbound in her view. 

“Tony’ll be here in about sixty seconds. I suggest you think about everything  _ after _ we’re done here, because this is one hell of a situation.”

* * *

 

Tony flew at top speed from the house in Malibu to the Avengers compound. One side of his HUD was a constant feed of the alien energy growing over Dubai, maintained by FRIDAY through Extremis. “FRIDAY, Rhodey make it to the compound with Cap and crew okay?”

“Yes, Boss. Boss Lady’s meeting with them now, although I gather she’s waiting for you to get there to fill them in.”

“Estimate for me to get there?”

“Seventy-five seconds.”

Tony pushed the suit a little harder and slowed only slightly when the Avengers compound came into view. He swooped down and landed next to Pepper with a clunk. He took a quick inventory. The Rogue Avengers were lined up by the quinjet, Steve a few feet in front of them, in front of Pepper. For some reason, all of them had semi-horrified expressions on their faces. And Steve had a red mark on his cheek that looked a little like a handprint?

Tony opened his faceplate and nodded at the Rouge Avengers, but ignored them for Pepper. He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her cheek. “Hi, Pep.”

She smiled and turned to better give him a kiss back. “Hey, Tony.”

He turned back to the others when he heard Rhodey clanking down the ramp. “Hey, Rhodes! Wanna lead these guys to the first briefing room? We don’t exactly have time for formalities.”

Rhodey gave a lazy salute and gestured to the rest to follow him. Tony tuned them out for a minute and asked Pepper: “Any idea why Cap looks like he has a burn mark in the shape of a handprint on his face?”

**Author's Note:**

> Don't worry about Cap, that burn mark isn't bad and his supersoldier abilities are gonna heal it in a couple hours anyway.  
> Also I'm kinda worried I made the MK XLVI too fragile? Like that's a lot of damage but I was trying to watch the scene while writing so at least part of that is what happened in the movie and well, supersoldiers battering on it with a vibranium shield and arm, vibranium>titanium-gold and goodbye chestplate.


End file.
